State And Society In Lebanon

This book argues that the modern state, from the nineteenth century to the contemporary period, has consistently been used as a means to measure civilizational engagement and attainment. This volume historicizes this dynamic, examining how it impacted state-making in Lebanon and Syria. By putting social, political, and economic pressure on the Ottoman Empire to replicate the modern state in Europe, the book examines processes of racialization, nationalist development, continued imperial expansion, and resistance that became embedded in the state as it was assembled. By historicizing post-imperial and post-colonial state formation in Lebanon and Syria, it is possible to engage in a conceptual separation from the modern state, abandoning the ongoing reproduction of the state as a standard, or benchmark, of civilization and progress.

Essays examine the social, economic, and political development of the two nations since the end of the Ottoman Empire

This book provides an intimate picture of Lebanon, exploring the impacts of the Arab uprisings of 2011 which are deeply affecting Lebanese politics and society. The book examines Lebanon’s current issues and its deep sectarian divisions, as well as the ways in which it still seems able to find some adaptation paths to face the many challenges left by its regional sectarian and political polarization. Authors delve into border regions, Syrian refugees, the welfare state, the Lebanese Army, popular mobilisations in 2011 and the two main communities, the Sunnis and the Shia. Built on various fieldwork researches, the volume explores each of the topics through the lenses of identification building processes, the re-ordering of social and/or political relations, and the nationhood symbols and meanings.

Why did the Lebanese state, the most open and democratic political system in the Middle East, break down between 1967 and 1976? In this major contribution to the debate, Fazel el-Khazen rejects the standard explanations of the Lebanese Civil War and argues instead that the causes were due to the official state ideology, which recognized diversity, dissent and a highly pluralistic population, and then specific external factors: pressures from the Arab-Israeli Conflict, inter-Arab rivalries, and the Palestine Liberation Organization's close connection to Lebanese politics. Using an historical analysis, el-Khazen sheds light on the political situation of the country in the lead up to the conflict and the major role Lebanon's neighbours had in the events. The detailed and comprehensive account uses interviews with the key protagonists in the civil war and analysis of unpublished sources to reveal how and why the breakdown took place.

Since the foundation of the modern consociational state of Lebanon, the country's multi-communitarian diversity has contested the distribution of state power and its national identity. Recurring stormy struggles yielded protracted instabilities. Alternatives to power-sharing have, however, awakened fears of repressive unitarian nationalism. This book re-examines the viability of the Lebanese power-sharing arrangement in preserving plurality and providing a common vision for nationhood. Thirteen Lebanese academic scholars offer different views in addressing the paradox of building a nation-state in a multi-communitarian society.

Lebanon is going through the worst crisis in its history. Even as the crisis was brewing, the usual proposals, out of touch with economic and social reality, kept popping up: move from the rentier economy to the productive economy, specialize in high value-added activities, rely on the high level of education of the Lebanese, wait for revenues from the offshore oil to be discovered, and so on. So many incantation statements of cultivated illusions. The critical and necessary question that needs to be asked, but that has not been asked by all those who pretend to be statesmen: what economy for Lebanon, and what State can lead to such an economy? This is not a technical nor a technocratic question, but an eminently political one. Lebanon has had four models in the recent history, culminating with the economy of regulated looting and redistribution (1985 until yesterday), which has just collapsed. Actually, the collapse of the public finances and the banking system are consequences of the collapse of the political-economic system, in place since the mid-1980s and institutionalized in the early 1990s. So what economy does Lebanon need to be strong, and what political system is necessary for such an economy? The book, An Economy and a State for Lebanon, presents various scenarios, various avenues for a small economy, such as Lebanon’s, to function in a productive manner. What is needed is political leadership with a wise and courageous vision, and with the freedom from sectarian handicaps to enact the necessary policies. An economy is comprised of people (labour) first and resources, including capital, second. For both, holistic public action is required. The financial crisis, uncovered in 2019, did not happen accidentally. It is necessary to know its causes, at the very least, to avoid falling back into bankruptcy, and, also, to build a pathway forward. A careful examination and analysis of the public finances, away from accounting recipes, reveals how the role of public finances actually adapted to the needs of maintaining the political system itself. They are not separate from each other. By its very nature, the Lebanese political economic system consumes resources: capital and this consumption is traceable though the accumulation of capital liabilities, and human beings traceable though the ever increasing stock of Lebanese emigrants. To refrain from consuming Lebanon’s resources and people, a new political economic system is needed. What is critical, during this transition, is a political leadership with the wisdom to transform Lebanon’s economy and society and with the courage to be flexible in building a sustainable political and economic system. Flexibility is needed because of the changing domestic conditions (such as the population’s socio-political structure) and because of the changing regional conditions (such as the security and economic situation in Syria). The book formulates the strategic preference in a rational and tangible way by reviewing numerous critical aspects, including a discussion on which currency would be suitable for which project and the impacts of financial losses and of emigration. Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the book is its critical discussion on alternatives, including courses of action and institutional actions, including the role of banks, Lebanon’s currency, and taxation. Furthermore, grounded policies are suggested for key sectors in the country in non-tradable basic services (health, education, housing, electricity, etc…). Clear pathways are presented, offering possibilities as to how the Lebanese can finally build a strong, productive economy. A strong economy can only be built when the citizens and residents of Lebanon are respected and not treated for export as commodities, and thus a cohesive, strong society is needed. Only a strong, courageous and free political leadership can initiate this pathway, and it can only happen in the context of a civil state.

The Lebanese constitution and the Taif Accord, which ended the Lebanese civil war in 1990, envision the progressive abolishment of political confessionalism, which was intended to be Lebanon's political and legal system only for a short interim period after independence. In other words, Lebanon was originally, and officially still is, intended to become a secular democracy. How do schools in Lebanon, through their humanities instruction, prepare the young generation for participating in nowadays civil and political life, on the basis of the confessional distribution of power and unequal personal status laws? And how do they prepare them for participation in the envisaged secular system? These are core questions of the doctoral thesis Lebanese - but how? It compares two historical events crucial for Lebanon's identity, and two legal issues concerning Lebanon's political fabric as they occur in different party programs, in PR-publications of Lebanese schools, and in different school textbooks for history, civic, as well as religious education.